Make Your New Year's Resolution for Immigration Reform!Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The United States needs immigration reform that reunites families, protects all workers and provides a way for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status.

Photo: Carol Fouke/CWS

The United States needs immigration reform that reunites families, protects all workers and provides a way for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status. While it is disappointing that comprehensive federal legislation regarding humane immigration reform was not enacted this past year, advocates are not giving up! People of faith, let's keep working for a common sense, moral resolution to our nation's broken immigration system.

The New Year’s Resolution Campaign is a way for you to inspire and be inspired, renew your commitment to building more welcoming communities and advocating for humane immigration policies in 2011, and share that commitment with others.

Our country’s current immigration system is taking a terrible human toll. Border fences, immigration detention facilities, raids and deportation-only strategies have cost taxpayers billions and led to the deaths of thousands of migrants, while doing little to stop undocumented immigration. In the absence of a system that allows for more orderly and regulated immigration, U.S. citizens and legal immigrants are kept waiting for as long as 22 years to be reunited legally with their children, spouse, siblings and parents.

Both immigrant and native-born workers are hurt as unscrupulous employers exploit undocumented workers, driving down wages and breeding divisions in workplaces and in our communities.

A humane reform of the ineffective and broken immigration system is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. Don’t be misled – a legalization process for undocumented immigrants plus a flexible visa program that responds to the economy and upholds family unity as a priority will make our country economically stronger, not weaker; our borders safer, and our communities more cohesive.

Find the New Year’s Resolution Campaign Toolkit at www.supportimmigrationreform.org, where you also can view CWS Executive Director & CEO John L. McCullough’s New Year’s Resolution for Immigration Reform. View more videos at www.youtube.com/faith4immigration. Then film and add your own resolution to stand in solidarity with immigrants through education, friendship and public witness.

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